In the aftermath of Sri Lanka banning all facial coverings from Monday onwards owing to the slew of blasts on Easter and the resulting blasts that shook Sri Lanka, Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta has written a letter to the Home Secretary of India, Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday, requesting the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to put a ‘complete ban of Niqab and Burkas in public places’.
“Please impose the complete ban on usage of full-face coverings and dresses such as Arabic dresses- Niqab and Burka in all public places and inside government and private institutions. These kinds of head coverings enable terrorists to hide their identity from CCTV and other surveillance measures in place,” reads the letter.
On Monday, Sri Lanka took a decisive step by banning all facial coverings in public places. “President Maithripala Sirisena took this decision to further support the ongoing security and help the armed forces to easily identify the identity of any wanted perpetrators,” according to a press note from the Sri Lankan president’s office.”
Defence sources also said that a number of female accomplices of incidents in Dematagoda too also escaped wearing burqas, the report said.
Referring this as a possible counter-terrorism measure to be followed in India, Gupta while speaking to Republic TV said:
“As voting is under progress, burqas are being used by women and there is no checking to ascertain who is voting at that time by the Election Commission. I will also write to the EC to ban burqas in polling booths.”
He also stressed that his demand was not communal but in place of national security adding. “What is the need for Burka in India where the administration comes under the law? All are equal here. Who will take responsibility if people misuse niqab?”